Aye Yai Yai--Embarrassment!

Oh, embarrassment--yes, this is a topic I feel I know all too well. At first, I was not going to write anything about it because it, well, may be...embarrassing. Oh, the irony! This has been a topic that I've had bouncing back and forth in my head for quite some time now, and it just seems time to get it all out. Hence, another blog post.

I was thinking back over the past several years of my life a couple of days ago-- where I thought I'd be, where I dreamed I'd be, where I didn't want to be, and where I actually am. It seems over this span of time there have been countless instances situations have arisen where, as a result of these situations, my complete humiliation has been the result. Not so fun. Whether it was something someone said, did, assumed, accused me of, intentional, unintentional, meaning well, meaning harm or even whether it was something I did, pain ensued. Post immediate embarrassment, thoughts of self-defense usually filled ridiculous amounts of mindspace, and numerous questions of "what?", "why?", "how?", etc developed. All of this being said, I do know one thing--that these uncomfortable experiences are not unique to me. I'm sure that each and every one of you have experienced this phenomenon.

...But you know, to put things into really quick perspective, as I want to weep and wallow, I have to remember that Jesus endured the ultimate humiliation. How unbelievably intense His pain must have been--and to think that God allowed His perfect and righteous Son to endure this because of His great love for us. Incomprehensible! Not only was this the ultimate embarrassment, but "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

(Pause)
Wow! How sobering.

Let's take it one step further, "He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." (Isaiah 53:3)

Goodness! How...embarrassing. Yet, He did nothing to deserve any of it. I'm not comparing His humiliation with ours because it doesn't compare. This just goes to show that embarrassment is something He is well-acquainted with. 

Now, I want to be very clear here that I am not putting suffering for the Lord and embarrassment in the same category, even though they can go perfectly hand in hand depending on the situation. I'm sure that many of the embarrassments that have happened in my lifetime have been a result of my own foolish decisions, or just plain ol' not knowing what to do. In my quiet time (QT) today, I was asking the Lord how to deal with these embarrassments--you know, the self-inflicted ones. More specifically, what do I do with the pain that comes along with them. The first part of the answer and probably the more obvious one was to give the pain to Him (friends, there is no need to hold on to your pain, let it go)--"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) The second part of the answer, which was almost like a flash of light going off in my head (cha-ching!), was to let the humiliation bring us to a point of surrender to Him in whatever area it may fall for us personally, be it self-image, relationship(s), expectations, etc. As one of my good friends says, "It's not fun or funny," but if He is allowing this as a means of drawing us closer into fellowship with Him, so be it.

I do want to encourage those of you who may be going through a period (or periods) of embarrassment and humiliation regarding your standards and morals,  to wait on the Lord to carry out His promise(s) to you while trusting in His faithfulness and timing, and remember that even your relationship with Christ as your salvation has been firmly established in Him. Stand strong! Don't give a foothold to the enemy (he plays quite unfairly). Our emotions and feelings are such powerful things that can wind up, if not controlled, having us feeding into lies and falsely accusing God. As my mom has faithfully reminded me for many years, "your feelings are real, but they don't always tell you the truth." So friends, stand on the Word of the Lord. Hold His promises near and dear. Consider it a blessing to be embarrassed and humiliated for Him; He sees everything and no single thing is lost on Him. Ignore and put out of your mind any thoughts that would have you think ill of our precious Heavenly Father, and continue to wait patiently for Him regarding the fulfillment of His Word to you. Let God be your defense; please don't depend on yourself to 'get back', or you may quickly find yourself returning to the first category of embarrassment (self-inflicted). Yikes! I don't know about you, but I'd like to minimize the number of times I go back to that! At the proper time, He will right the wrong in only a way He can; it will be perfect justice because He is the One carrying it out. "But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge." Psalm 94:22

It's funny, I never intend to write a whole bunch, but there always seems to be substantially more text that I was planning on in each post. :) In closing, here are just a few people in the Bible that have been very well acquainted with embarrassment, but just look at how mightily our Father used them!
• Joseph (Genesis chapters 37-50)
• Noah (Genesis chapters 5-9)
• David (1 Samuel 16 through 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-2, 1 Chronicles 11-29)
• Jesus (of course--throughout the Bible)!

It is my sincere hope that this has been of some encouragement to you, friend! I will be the first to scream and shout loudly that I'm not perfect and I definitely don't have it all together. I have not mastered life and all of it's challenges, but our Savior Jesus Christ has, and there is no element of shame or embarrassment there! Thank You Father!

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 1 Corinthians 12:9-10

-D

A New Thing

Hello friends,

Wow! I cannot believe it's been this long since the last post. It's still hard to get over how vapor-like time is. So much has happened since the last post, but in every ounce of it, the Lord has continued to show just how faithful He is.

     I don't know why, but I always seem to get so apprehensive before blogging or even writing in my journal. For a while, I've tried to figure out why this is, and I think a small ray of light has just recently shown some of the answer. Besides the fact that I certainly don't consider myself a writer (and to all you grammar lovers and gurus, please forgive me for any faux pas in this posting), I honestly believe it comes down to the fear of being open and vulnerable--transparent. When I write, I no longer have the ability to hide from what is coming out. It can be a little painful at the start, but in some way, shape, or form, I always feel so much better after all is said and done. Do you all feel that way too?

      Ok, let's get started! The impression came so strongly upon me tonight as I was having a little quiet time to write a note of encouragement to whoever may be reading this. We live in such a dark and chaotic world where there seems to be just a relentless barrage of arrows (so to speak) thrown at us continually trying to suck us dry of energy and life, but very little nourishment. Well, it's time to be 'nourished' my friends! Our Heavenly Father is so very aware of everything that we have been through, are currently going through, and will go through in the future, and He is preparing for us His perfect way. On the way though, He gives us food!

     In the continued theme of being completely transparent (don't worry, I'm coming right back around to the encouragement), one of the greatest issues that I have dealt with lately has been an intense battle for my health. Ultimately, I know that the Lord is in complete control, but I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't been a difficult road thus far. There have been so many times where the temptation to just give up has crept in, and the feeling of having nothing left to give has shown it's face. But, there is something to be said for letting the Lord take you to the end of yourself, where in you, there is nothing  left and you are empty. At this place, the Lord can take over since He is now left with room to fill you with Himself. It is in these moments that are seemingly the hardest where we feel broken and shattered that our wonderful Father can show us how He is doing a new thing! He is fixing us. It's a refining fire to get out the all of the nasty filth and gunk in our lives that we may not even know is present, and draw us closer to Him. 

      Friends, there were many things that tightly gripped my attention before the onslaught of health issues came and at some point in time, they had all become distractions interfering with my walk with the Father. My priorities were not in order, and God will not share His throne with any body or thing. He alone is God and He alone deserves that top tier place in our lives. It's when your life is stripped of these other things that you realize that you can survive without them, but not Him. He is all we really have, and that's because He has so lovingly given Himself to us. He is everything, and if we don't know Him, we have nothing. 

     So, here is where the encouragement comes in--straight from the Word.

-John 1:12

"Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God"

-Matthew 5:3-12

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

  

-Ephesians 2:8-10

"For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

  

-Psalm 55:22

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."  

I know I may seem a little 'all over the place', but I'm going to try and sum it up simply here:

• Make Him your number one priority.

• Please take our Father's precious Words as your sustenance. Let His truth bloom within you as you meditate on the fullness of His Words.

• If you feel broken, let Him put together all of your pieces because He wants to do such a mighty work in and through you. Though the circumstances may be hard and your world may be spinning out of orbit, but cling on to Jesus as tightly as you possibly can. He can be trusted.  

• Don't give up on His gift of life! If you're still alive and breathing, God's will for your life on this earth has not been fully accomplished yet. He can always use you!

• Give God the chance to do a new thing in you. It may not be easy, but after all, He is all we need and He is worth it. ...And if nothing else, He deserves it.

Be encouraged my friend! :)